LCC RUNNERS: Thames Path Putney to Chiswick [4-5km] INTERMEDIATE
Details
Welcome back to LCC's Trail Running Club! For this one, we're making moves in a different direction with a mixed paved and trail run down the Thames Path from Putney to Chiswick.
We'll be looking at a roughly 45-60 minute run, covering around 5 kilometres or thereabouts on flat surfaces, suitable for confident beginners and experienced runners alike.
Our route will take us from the anti-fascist International Brigades Memorial at the eastern end of Bishops Park, right next to Putney Bridge Tube Station. Details on the memorial and its location can be found here: https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/hammersmith-and-fulham-international-brigade
From there we'll run westward along the Thames Path along paved path and trails, finishing the running portion most likely at Dukes Meadows and cooling off with walking and stretching until we reach Chiswick Bridge, close to Chiswick station. Toilets are available at Bishops Park.
Take care and see you on the trails!
Our standard bit of info about our running group and why it's good is provided below:
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Humans evolved to run and sprint; no wonder then that when we do it regularly (within moderation and with plenty of rest days), our brains as well as bodies thank us. Running has recently been shown to improve neuroplasticity, heal brain damage in affected individuals, and foster better mental health including elevated mood at rest and enhanced task-switching ability. Doing all this in nature, as opposed to busy London roads dodging commuters and street cleaners, also helps deliver the well-known benefits of time spent in nature to mood, anxiety levels, cognition and memory. All these things matter a great deal in an age where burnout and exhaustion are a constant presence either in our own lives or those of the people we care about [who you should totally invite along]. It matters especially for people trying to eke out a percentage of their time and mental capacity for transformative social and political organising: the better we feel, the more we'll be able to do.
In a nutshell, running is great for you and you should do it. Trail running is even better. Best of all is doing all this with a supportive group of comrades, especially one which includes knowledgeable folks who can provide some structure to what can be a puzzling sport to get started with if building up to something, like a 10k or half marathon, is your goal. Part of our running group's programming will be building a series of events aimed at building people up, slowly but surely, towards specific goals, using progressive programmes similar to the NHS's Couch to 5k system.
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Take care and see you on the trails!